What’s Rockin' in the USA? Tours

PHOTO: Old Faithful and Yellowstone National Park are among an abundance of super-popular US destinations. (photo via Flickr/H. Michael Miley)

Tour operators are thriving in virtually all destinations, and no more so than in the domestic market.

Travel in the U.S. is booming, triggered by the National Parks Centennial in 2016. And with security concerns casting shadows on many favorite destinations in Europe, the U.S. is seen as a safe alternative for many travelers.

“We continue to be bullish about North America. We’ve seen very strong demand for North America over the past two years,” said Jeremy Palmer, senior vice president of land products for Tauck. “And that demand has accelerated into 2018. Generally speaking, we’re up 15 to 20 percent in North America year over year.”

The wave of demand is spreading across all the traditional tourism areas.

“It continues to be driven mostly by the national parks out West,” said Palmer. “From the Canyonlands and Yellowstone to the Canadian Rockies, we’re seeing extremely strong demand. The strength is broad and deep. Whether it’s the Eastern Seaboard, from Cape Cod down to Charleston, Savannah or New Orleans, there is very good strength in all U.S. destinations at the moment, including Alaska.”

With travelers increasingly more interested in immersing themselves in the destinations they visit, Tauck is seeing its strongest growth in small-group programs.

“We continue to add [tours] across the board, but particularly in our small-group product line. We’re adding new product in the West and have three new national park tours coming online over the next year,” said Palmer. “It’s a good time for North America. Demand is strong and we’re adding capacity wherever we can.”

Globus officials said the company’s domestic business is booming, with its national parks programs now its highest performing tours. The company is offering 16 Globus GoParks! Tours to 43 national parks, the most popular of which are the “Canyon Country Adventure,” “Classic Fall Foliage” and “Spectacular Alaska.”

New tours for 2018 include “Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver,” “Music Cities: Nashville and Memphis” and “Southern Charms.” Sister brand Cosmos is introducing such tours as “Historic Train Journey,” “America’s National Parks” and “Alaskan Highlights.”

Pleasant Holidays is also witnessing an upswing in North American bookings.

“We are definitely seeing a trend of Americans wanting to vacation closer to home, with double-digit growth to Hawaii for travel in 2017 and 2018,” said Jack E. Richards, the company’s president and CEO. “New nonstop flights from key U.S. cities to each of the four primary Islands of Hawaii are contributing to this sales growth.”

The company continues to expand its North American offerings, ever since the launch of its domestic program during 2010. It now offers 84 U.S. cities, 13 Canadian cities and more than 500 hotels and resorts in New York City, Orlando, Las Vegas, Miami Beach, Seattle, New Orleans, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington, D.C., Lake Tahoe, Banff/Lake Louise, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

The top cities for packages are Las Vegas and New York City, followed by San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Travel Impressions is also profiting from the North American travel boom, with Hawaii and Florida accounting for the most volume.

“With more than 100 resorts and 115 villas, our Hawaii portfolio is one of our fastest growing. We’re also expecting a lot of new air capacity to come online with a big United expansion, and others–including Alaska Airlines–eyeing the destination,” said Scott Wiseman, the company’s president. “This new capacity will spur further hotel growth as the destination continues to gain momentum in the Midwest and East Coast feeder markets while maintaining its position as the leading warm-weather destination for West Coast travelers.”

Florida is also faring well.

“With very few exceptions, much of Florida’s hospitality industry was spared major [hurricane] damage,” said Wiseman. “Occupancy levels are returning to normal, and we fully expect the Sunshine State will retain its No. 2 position in our domestic portfolio as the winter season approaches.”

Wiseman added that Las Vegas, Travel Impression’s third-most-popular domestic destination after Hawaii and Florida, “has not lost its luster” and is attracting families and other, non-traditional markets.

Echoing the sentiments of other operators, Mayflower Tours Chairman John Stachnik said the company is witnessing robust demand for domestic travel programs.

“The impact of the hurricanes came late enough in the season so that most travelers had already enjoyed their holiday,” he said. “National parks and other outdoor destinations continue to grow [because of] an abundance of worry about touring certain destinations.”

For Abercrombie & Kent, the adventure of the frontier is attracting travelers to one of the country’s most remote states: Alaska.

“Our most-requested destination for families this year was Alaska,” said Pamela Lassers, the company’s director of media relations. “Abercrombie & Kent’s ‘Family Alaska’ program proved especially popular with multigenerational families, many of [whose members] live far from one another. They appreciate the opportunity to relax and spend time together while engaging in activities for all ages.”

Collette, meanwhile, is seeing “significant growth on all of our national parks tours, which gained even more [attention] as a result of the recent celebration of 100 years,” said L’Oreal Reynolds, the tour operator’s director of marketing.

“Tours to the Pacific Northwest, especially to California, are also gaining in popularity. We’re excited to see guests traveling in their own backyard.”

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